In root canal treatment, a patient's root canal is first emptied and cleaned and then filled with an obturator. The obturator is often made of gutta-percha. Gutta-percha is a thermoplastic natural non-elastic latex. Before pressing the thermoplastic obturator into the emptied and cleaned root canal, it is heated to a suitable temperature for softening the obturator material. For this purpose, dedicated heating apparatuses are on the market. Other materials used in the dental treatment are also heated before being used in the dental treatment, such as, for example, composite for filling a tooth, or a liquid which is used for rinsing a tooth, or rinsing a root canal.
An example of such a heating apparatus is the Thermaprep Plus Oven made by Dentsply. This oven comprises a heating chamber for heating thermoplastic obturators placed therein. Before using the obturator for filling a root canal, it is placed in an obturator holder and let down into the heating chamber. The heating time for the thermoplastic obturator varies from 25 to 45 seconds, depending on the obturator size and the used thermoplastic material. When at the right temperature, the obturator can be removed from the holder and placed inside the patient's root canal.
One of the disadvantages of this known heating apparatus is that the dentist has to wait quite a long time before the obturator is at the right temperature for being inserted into the root canal. This problem is only partly solved by providing a second obturator holder and a corresponding second heating chamber. When a first thermoplastic obturator is inside the first heating chamber, the dentist may already place a second obturator in the second obturator holder. By alternately using the two heating chambers, the efficiency of the whole heating process is slightly improved. However, it still takes between 20 and 45 seconds to bring the thermoplastic material to the desired temperature.